Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Give it away, give it away, give it away, give it away now.

Hello, friends!

I am writing to tell you about FamilyFun's new kids' magazine, the aptly titled FamilyFun Kids, and to invite you to enter here for a free subscription.

This is a magazine for kids and by "kids" (okay, it's mostly the wildly child-like staff of FamilyFun, but still--lots of actual kids, including my own, have tested and retested all of the ideas), that is also blissfully ad-free. That's right: no ads. Which gives me a heavenly, let-freedom-ring, "Down with Poptarts and cold medicine!" feeling about the kind of copy we could write. Not that we would. But still. Look carefully in the first issue to see what I might have written for them. (Give up? It's the fortune-teller fortunes. I know.) You kind of cut the magazine up as you go, since it's full of little mustaches and other stuff you'll actually want to snip and use. And it's just fresh and funny and full of fun stuff to do, in the way that I like. "Optimistic" is what I want to say: kids aren't jaded capitalist brats! They're goofy fun-lovers who just want to use scissors. I love that.

Does it make a difference that the editor of FamilyFun is my best friend from college? No, but I can see why you'd ask. Or rather: yes, but only because she is, like, the warmest, funniest person on earth and she makes great magazines.

There's a really cute video for it here. And subscription info here, on the off-chance you don't win one.

Just comment here by Midnight on New Year's eve to enter the subscription give-away--though you have to be from the U.S. to do it for some reason (sorry, all you beloved Maple Leafs).

Hi! I've been reading your blogs/columns faithfully since before Birdy and my daughter were born! This might be the first time I've commented. :-) You are an amazingly gifted writer....I love how easily you weave words together to share your life in a funny and candid way!

Is it weird that I'm sort of sad about Wondertime when thinking about this? Maybe this magazine will be amazing and it will disappear too. (Martha Stewart also did a Kids magazine but it was done in a flash.)

I just pulled my salted caramel popcorn our of the oven - a double batch, one with nuts and one without - and the recipe is from Wondertime. Ditto our (your) camping list, and so many other small but wonderful parts of our days. Are any of the old staff doing this new magazine? I sure hope so. I'm not exaggerating when I say Wondertime was my favorite magazine ever. I'm just a little scared to love this new one...

LOVE that it has no ads!! Also, I've finally just subscribed to ChopChop. I can't wait to get the first issue and get my kids excited to make dinner. And clean up after themselves. Basically make myself more and more obsolete. hooray!

You are awesome. And I am excited to see a cool kids' magazine with no ads--stopped the Nat Geo Kids subscription because I got so annoyed at that. (And bought a ChopChop subscription.) Hooray for this!

Oh yay! I was sad when Wondertime folded (though my kids are beyond that age now anyway) and so am SO glad to hear there's another option. And AD Free? Are you serious? What a FABULOUS idea!!! Sign me up!

No ads? Wow!! I love that idea. The mag looks really great. We would LOVE to win a subscription. I think my kids would really love this, and just in time for the long hibernating months of winter in Maine. If I don't win, I'm definitely subscribing, so thanks for the easy link to that, too! Happy Hanukkah & Merry Christmas to you and yours!

My girls love our subscriptions to Chop Chop! and mama's Family Fun Magazines. I just picked up a copy of the Kid's Family Fun magazine on the newsstand this week and my 8 year old loves it! She is begging for her own subscription. : ) Our fingers and toes are crossed.

and in a non-stalkery way...Merry Christmas Catherine, Michael, Ben and Birdy!

My daughter would also love to "read" the magazine (meaning, look at the pictures and want to do what the kids are doing), and she loves to cut and snip (as evidenced by all of her dolls' unfashionable, or, depending on your taste, fashionable, uneven crew cuts)! Sign us right up for the drawing, please!

Okay, I am the 127th person to leave a comment in hopes of winning a subscription, but maybe that is a lucky number? Can I tell you I think you're so great we are going to buy Dixit? And we subscripe to Chop Chop? Does bribery work?

And while we are talking about ad free magazines...for those of you with girls, check out NewMoon Girls...ad free completely moderated magazine and social site for girls with a strong girl-positive vibe...run by girls and much of the creative work written by girls. It has been a transformative place for my eldest daughter...they have book chats with authors, literary competitions, plus just a lot of fun! HIGHLY recommended...

me me, pick me! think of how much better it would be for my children to be cutting up your magazine than playing on the computer!!!

(there you go, that's my best shot -- does this mean that my brain is absolutely Chanukah/christmas/cousins coming after midnight which means I have to drive for four hours round trip fried??? YES!!!!!)

OK I might be jinxing my chances for the magazine by doing this, but I think that it's important to let you know that I think you have one too many "give it away"s listed. This is said only with love but I'm 95% sure that it's "Give it away, give it away, give it away now." (Went to a Red Hot Chili Peppers concert while pregnant with my oldest(about 6 months younger than Ben). It was great but I held my breath for a portion while some people 3 rows down were herbing it up and I was freaking out for my baby. I hope that you have had a wonderful holiday season so far and continue to do so! I LOVE no ads and will check out the magazine definitely!

OH Em Gee! It is like FamilyFun and MS Kids collided and their molecules reformed into the perfect magazine for my daughter. the same daughter who hoards and pours over the aforementioned magazines. Yea! Maybe I could actually get to read MY copy of Family Fun before the current season ends!

i'm a sucker for mags that are well done and the kidness of this one when family fun has already caught my eye time and time again with its goodness makes it irresistable so i am crossing my fingers big time! :O) just finished grief of others, too and it was really good. keep the book recs coming!TiA

We would love a chance to win that subscription. On your recommendation, we are now receiving ChopChop magazine, and my daughter loves it. She's planning to make Birdy's potato and pea salad today! Lovely picture of Birdy!

OOOh, yummy! We're ad-free. Love Chop Chop, thanks to you, and you've been a lifesaver for me since I was pregnant with my first when you were pregnant with Birdy in 2002. Three kids later (nearly 9, 6 and 2) I still consider you a lifesaver and still can't stop laughing at the internal struggle you expressed when your housemate was pregnant and you confessed wanting a third, but also not, and wondering if a cat was enough. I thank you every week your blog comes out. Your crackers and bread both figure in an annual science fair project on leavening that gets more involved every grade. Much gratitude from this California family.

This looks perfect for my 8 and 11 year olds. Especially now that we have a 9 month old scooting around - the older ones deserve something just for them! My email, in case I win (hopefully!) is thebiermanns[at]verizon[dot]net.